The Blériot-SPAD S.56 was a family of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

s developed in the 1920s as various refinements of the S.33 design. All S.56 versions shared two new features: the first was a newly designed, all-metal wing, replacing the wooden wing of earlier related designs and the second was a redesigned passenger cabin, replacing the S.33's four single seats in a row with two rows of double seats. A second access door was also added.

Variants

;S.56/1:basic version with

Salmson CM.9 The Salmson water-cooled aero-engines, produced in France by Société des Moteurs Salmson from 1908 until 1920, were a series of pioneering aero-engines: unusually combining water-cooling with the radial arrangement of their cylinders. Histor ...

radial engine and later a Gnome & Rhône 9Aa. 1 built. (author obtained from https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/firstfiles.html) ;S.56/2:similar to the S.56/1, with a

Gnome & Rhône 9Ab The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

engine. 1 built. ;S.56/3:similar to S.56/2 with improved landing gear and Gnome & Rhône 9Aa engine. 8 built. ;S.56/4:major fuselage revision;

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

relocated between engine and passenger cabin (in all previous S.33 derivatives, it had been aft of the cabin) and an extra double seat added to the cabin, increasing internal passenger capacity to six. Powered by Gnome & Rhône 9Ady engines. 8 built, plus 2 modified from S.56/3s. ;S.56/5:revised passenger cabin with four seats located in one compartment, and two in a second compartment that could be quickly converted to a freight hold. 2 built, plus 6 modified from S.56/3s and 2 from S.56/4s. ;S.56/6:similar to S.56/3 but customised for banner towing for the Air Publicité company, powered by a

engine. 2 built; one ended up as a transport in the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

during the Spanish Civil War.

Operators

; *

Air Union Air Union was a French airline established January 1, 1923, as the result of a merger between the airlines ''Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes'' and '' Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens''. Air Union was merged with four other French airli ...

(S.56/3, S.56/4) * CIDNA (S.56/1, S.56/3, S.56/4, S.56/5) ; *

(S.56/6)

Specifications (S.56/4)

References

External links

Aviastar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot-Spad S.56 1920s French airliners Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Blériot aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1923

Variants

Operators

Specifications (S.56/4)

See also

References

Further reading

External links